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M&A Legal Tech

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While most of the summer is typically a slack period for the legal tech sector, that doesn`t mean market consolidation has taken a break. In the context of increased regulatory oversight, negotiators need to focus their efforts on maximizing compliance while minimizing data protection risks and incidents during the due diligence process to keep trade close activity on an upward trajectory. This is where technology can help. For an industry like the legal sector, which relies heavily on large amounts of data and information, it makes sense to look for technical solutions. This is certainly reflected in the balance of skills that law firms are now looking for in potential new recruits. A recent report by Robert Half Legal found that six out of ten lawyers say technical skills trump soft skills in the hiring process for new roles. The growing role of Legaltech is also reflected in the fact that the US Department of Justice has allocated 10% of its total budget to IT services. This technological boost in the legal sector is being welcomed by a growing number of lawtech startups – there are now more than 250, up from 70 three years ago. This trend is replicated globally, with a list compiled by Stanford University showing that there are now 1,700 companies in the region, up from 1,250 last year. The growing LexisNexis said the move was part of an “ongoing commitment to creating a place where lawyers can get the legal information they need to advise their clients” and that with Caselex, LexisNexis can now offer “competitive lawyers a truly integrated and differentiated suite of offerings.” Legal business skills, such as understanding clients` business issues and financial literacy, were the most important area of training cited in the survey (77%). Given the interweaving of technology with today`s businesses, this is certainly related. Luckily for them, the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated law firms` legaltech campaign.

According to Wolter Kluwer`s 2020 Legal Report, 56% of law firms in Europe reported an increased need for technical solutions due to COVID – with 65% of companies saying their investments in legal technology will remain the same or increase in the future. Given the urgent need for the legal industry to adopt technology to increase efficiency and manage workloads, as well as to increase remote work, the case for a likely acceleration in the growth of the legal technology sector, coupled with an increased wave of mergers and acquisitions, is already well presented. Legal Tech Pac-Man, Litera, appears to have regained its rhythm in mergers and acquisitions with the purchase of BI data provider BigSquare after a six-month hiatus. Our global team has the strength, depth, industry knowledge and cross-border reach to provide high-quality advice to clients around the world. We are recognized as one of the world`s leading public and private M&A firms. Our New Law team ensures that we are at the forefront of technical innovation with our service offering. The report states: “The main perceived benefits of technology in M&A practice are all related to greater accuracy and reduced risk – factors that are of great importance in M&A work.” With this in mind, cybersecurity audits and assessments have become an important part of the M&A due diligence process, and today`s technologies offer much more effective and comprehensive approaches. From categorizing contracts and indexing their content for search, to dynamic reporting on an organization`s security protocols, machine learning and data analytics can help provide critical insights during the research and analysis aspect of due diligence. The due diligence landscape has changed rapidly.

Gone are the days when the analysis of financial and legal documentation was considered sufficiently rigorous. Now, the scope has been extended to areas such as human resources, intellectual property, evidence of environmental, social and governance policies, and tax considerations. The survey also asked respondents “about their plans for technologies they are not currently using” next year. Tools being considered for procurement include: From automated document reviews and multilingual search capabilities to contract analysis and risk and compliance controls, AI and machine learning capabilities improve workflow accuracy and help solve some of the organizational challenges that typically hinder the due diligence process. In addition, by automatically sorting, evaluating, and classifying thousands of documents in minutes and assigning them to the appropriate files for review, AI technologies are transforming the due diligence process into a more proactive, data-driven one. This not only allows negotiators to move away from more administrative and time-consuming tasks and focus their time and energy on other parts of the transaction, but also helps ensure regulatory compliance in an increasingly complex landscape. Key areas of Legaltech that are attracting the most interest from law firms include case management, which includes secure file-sharing portals, automated document creation and management, document collaboration tools, and meeting management software, which have gained traction with the rise of remote work. And a key factor in why the industry is proving so popular is the recurring revenue that legaltech companies can generate. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are external online distributors of ALM`s extensive collection of current and archived versions of legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law clients may access and use ALM content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, New York Law Journal and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

The new functionality will complement Law360`s range of legal and regulatory news and expand the LexisNexis Practical Guidance group, which provides advice on competition and regulatory law. Goodwin also has the unique ability to offer an experienced U.S. expansion team to assist growth-stage startups and technology companies with U.S. launch, expansion, financing, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. “Contrary to lawyers` reputation as risk-averse and resistant to change, most M&A lawyers we surveyed classified their firms as innovators with a high tolerance for risk (29%) or early adopters with moderate risk tolerance (52%). The remaining 19% of companies saw themselves as early majority adopters, late majority adopters or laggards in their technology approach. Overall, this suggests that while the numbers are currently low, there appears to be an upward trend in mergers and acquisitions in the legal technology space.

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